Friday Night Is Football Nght

16 November 2012 10:00

Football has to find ways to get fans to come along and the SPL continue with their Friday night game experiment.

Dundee United want to forget about last Sunday's result against table toppers Hibs. A reaction to last Sunday's 2-1 result is what manager Peter Houston is looking for tonight when United host Kilmarnock. Last weekend's game stopped their recent revival in the SPL. Houston wants his players to get back on the revival trail tonight at home. He said: "The players were very frustrated after losing to Hibs and we're obviously hoping to take some of that feeling into the Kilmarnock game. We shouldn't have been 2-0 down by our standards. One thing they know is that they can't put in a first-half performance like we did at Easter Road. We were on the back foot and allowed Hibs to dictate to us, which wasn't like us. But Tannadice is different and we always seem to enjoy a night game. We want to start at a high tempo and hopefully take the game to Kilmarnock. The games with Killie are normally tight but we have to look to get our noses in front and see where it takes us." Houston's Killie countrepart Kenny Shiels admits he had mixed feelings about his players being on international duty in midweek. Liam Kelly earned his first full Scotland cap in last night's 2-1 win in Luxembourg, while goalkeeper Cammy Bell was also called-up but did not feature in the game. Rory McKeown was the third element of the trio with an appearance for Northern Ireland Under-21s in their defeat against England on Tuesday. while Shiels is thrilled to see his players and the club earn international recognition, he says the timing was not ideal. He said: "You've got mixed feelings. You want them to be called up, it's recognition for our club. It's really pleasing that we're striking a chord with the international team and we're getting players capped and representing their country. But hopefully it doesn't have an adverse impact on their game preparation. We've had three players on international duty which isn't the best preparation but it happens to clubs all the time. We are just part of that. Saturday would have been better for the game for us." On the prospect of playing on a Friday night, Shiels added: "The summer months - August, September, April, May - are good times but the climate really isn't conducive to supporters coming home from work and travelling. If it was Kilmarnock against Ayr, or Dundee and Dundee United, teams in close proximity, then I would say it could benefit the crowd. But I think it takes from the crowd a little bit. You just have to bite the bullet.''